Friday Fragments - 4th November

Heyylooo! Here I am back with my weekly ritual of unloading. Its been 3 long weeks since the last Friday Fragments. So here's what has been happening.

---) We visited my cousin's place in Virginia and headed towards Luray Caverns and Shenondoah Valley.

 Stalactites - hold on 'tight' to roof and Stalagmites - 'might' reach the sky - the guide told us how to remember which is which 

Dark Hollow Falls at Shenondoah Valley

The entry fee to the Luray caverns in quite steep - $23 each, but once you are there what choice do you have right?

---) Two great friends of mine from Netherlands and Canada visited me in the same week. I am becoming a better NYC tourist guide day by day! :-) Two cool things happened when in NYC with my NL friend. 

One - We both could swear we saw SnoopDogg in the metro! Nobody even realized it man! We kept staring at him until he walked off at some station. 

Two - We were standing outside a restaurant in downtown Manhattan trying to figure out where we were and there was this guy all suited up standing right next to us and fidgeting. Within minutes 2 shady looking guys came and handed him a small packet. In exchange the guy in the suit gave them a big bundle of rolled up cash and left in a hurry. It was like a scene out of CSI NY!!! We looked around to check if cameras were rolling somewhere. But No! Hmmmm....

With my friend from Canada, I still can't believe how we managed to talk non-stop for most part of the day! The day flew away so quickly! 

---) Diwali the festival of lights co-incided with my b'day this year. We went to Pennsylvania to celebrate it with some friends. We were all dressed up in traditional clothes and did like 101 poses in front of the camera. :-) 

---) My sister sent us some home-made sweets and savories all the way from Canada. Hubby who barely touches most of the sweets, fought with me for the last one. We want mooreeeee! Are you listening  sis :-D? 

---) Whats with the crazy snow storm last week? NJ faced incredible snow fall with quite serious power cuts and falling trees everywhere. The houses just next block had power shutdowns for upto 4 days!!!! We barely escaped! They even shifted the Halloween trick or treating days in some neighborhoods here. 

---) I got an amazing pair of boots last Saturday - weather proof, furry and all...Just in case :-) 

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Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

This book had been in much discussion in 2010 so decided to pick it up from the library. I read it within two 5 hour flight trips I took recently - which is rarity  these days as I seem to be reading multiple books for several months together with no signs of completing most of them soon :).

The author talks about her own real life in this book. Liz Gilbert has everything that a woman of her age could possibly want - a husband, a house and a career. Somewhere in her mid-life though she begins to wonder whether if all this is what she actually wants or has she been living a life that the society accepts as "normal" enough. A messy divorce and a messier affair later, she decides to take a break from everything.

Liz sets off to three countries - Italy, India and Indonesia over a period of a year to get a new perspective of things. In Italy she discovers the pleasure of food and as the Italians say the "art of doing nothing", in India she spends all her time in an Ashram where she meditates for inner peace and in Indonesia she looks to bring a balance between a normal life while holding on to her spiritual side. How she completes the journey forms the crux of the book.

The book is fascinating in several ways. Liz feels the pulse of the world and her descriptions of places are not "tourist book" type, rather on how she relates to a place/person making things really interesting. I found the India part of her book quite interesting. Her experiences with meditation and prayers are intriguing though I must warn you if you are someone how thinks meditation is an excuse for people to sleep longer, then some details may actually help you get initiated into "meditation" :). If Bali is as beautiful as the author describes, I would want to live there someday!

A good dose of "spiritual/wake up call" book of modern times.  

Friday Fragments - 14th October

Its Fridayyyyy! :-) This week was good. Time really does fly like crazy, it has been almost 6 months since I came to the US.

So here are this week's highlights.

---) I had my first job interview since coming here (ya, it took that long!)and have been selected to go to round 2. Keeping my fingers tightly crossed!

---) You know that afternoon time after lunch, that lull period when you wish the world would wrap up for just a bit so you can snatch a quick look into that enchanted world? Seriously! that afternoon siesta is like the bestest thing in the world. After a long time I went to that enchanted world yesterday. Bliss! :)

---) We have been provided with free Hindi (regional language)channels by our cable people again! All the super "saas" (mother-in-laws) and "bahus" (daughter-in-laws) beware!

---) I made quesedillas today for lunch today from this recipe here. It was just so yummy, I wonder why I have never ventured much into this before despite having a grill.

---) We surprised our neighbor on her birthday with a nice cake and a gift at the stroke of midnight. She was so surprised by us that she was skipping around like a child. Totally worth it :)

---) Its pouring cats and dogs here at the moment. We are off to Virginia and Pennsylvania this weekend to meet up some family and friends.

Have a great weekend all you peeps!!!

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